Summarize, evaluate, letter

PROGRESSION I: Exercise #2: Letter to Author

► READ “The Jacket” (handout), comparing and contrasting it with the “The Story of an Hour” that you have 

read already while simultaneously paying attention to what the second author is saying and how he conveys his 

thematic ideas. 

► WRITE a letter to Gary Soto, the author of “The Jacket.” As a way of generating the letter, respond to some 

key concept that you discovered in “The Story of an Hour” for Progression #1, Exercise #1. In your letter, seek 

not to praise the writer but to earn the writer’s praise through your engaging, thoughtful analysis of the author’s 

personal essay. Try to elicit a response in return (without directly asking for one) by saying something about a

main idea from the essay. Also, reference Kate Chopin’s story in your assessment of Soto’s essay.

Your letter should be two to three double-spaced pages long. You must make clear in the text of your letter 

what story and essay you are writing about, and what phrases, images, or ideas you are discussing. 

(Do not tell Soto that you are writing to satisfy a class requirement.)

 

I want the summarization and the evaluation of “The Jacket” in one page (half/half)